Decision to not reopen schools in Mumbai till December 31 should have been taken earlier: Principals, parents

In the past few days, around 9,000 teachers underwent RT-PCR tests for Covid-19, after the state made testing mandatory for them in the SOPs issued on November 10

Schools in Mumbai have welcomed the civic body’s announcement to not reopen schools on November 23, but said that the decision should have been taken earlier. The schools will remain closed till December 31 owing to fears of a second Covid-19 wave in the city.

After the Maharashtra education department’s green signal, schools had begun preparations to reopen for Class 9 to Class 12 students. In the past few days, around 9,000 teachers from schools in Mumbai underwent the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for Covid-19, after the state made testing mandatory for them in the standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued on November 10. A total of 25,000 teachers, including those from aided, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and private schools had to be tested.

“The past few days have been really stressful for teachers and schools as they had to prepare for the reopening as per the guidelines. So while we welcome BMC’s decision to not reopen schools this month, we wished that the announcement would have been made earlier,” said Prashant Redij, spokesperson, Mumbai Principals Association.

Several schools had also sanitised their premises as a preparation for schools to reopen. “The government has not given us any money for this and now all that effort has gone down the drain,” said the principal of a suburban school.

Prasad Tulaskar, a Dadar-based parent who had been writing to the education department urging officials to not start schools, said parents heaved a sigh of relief after the announcement. “Our only question is why was our request not heard before? In a city like Mumbai, Covid-19 cases have always been high and it made no sense to announce reopening of schools. The state should understand that when a child goes to school, along with him, his family members also become vulnerable [to the virus],” said Tulaskar.

On Friday, state education minister Varsha Gaikwad said that while the department has allowed schools to reopen for the higher classes, the final decision to do so rests with the local administration. “Local administration from each place would be able to take a decision on the basis of prevailing conditions and in consultation with principals and other stakeholders,” said Gaikwad in a statement.

The SOPs too had mandated that the local administration has the final authority to decide on school reopening. The department had, however, said it would permit schools to reopen from November 23 following safety protocols like sanitisation of school premises, daily temperature checks of teachers and students, conducting a mix of online and offline learning and ensuring there is one student per bench in a class.

Supplementary exams on schedule, students, staff allowed to take trains

The department said the ongoing supplementary exams for Class 10 and Class 12 will continue as per schedule and the students, teaching and non-teaching staff will be allowed to travel by local trains till December 10. The CR and WR issued the permission late on Friday, on the directives of the railway ministry. Valid identity card and hall tickets of students will be checked while entering the railway station premises.

.